Fire rips through crowded Brazil nightclub, killing 233

By Shasta Darlington, Marilia Brocchetto and Dana Ford, CNN

Updated 1:59 AM ET, Mon January 28, 2013

Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire29 photos

Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Relatives and friends of Paraguayan student Guido Britez, 21, who died in a fire at the Kiss nightclub in Brazil, carry his coffin during the funeral in Asuncion on Tuesday, January 29. More than 230 people died and more than 120 were injured early Sunday when a fire tore through the nightclub packed with university students in southern Brazil, police said.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Guido Britez's family attends the funeral on January 29.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Mauro Hoffman, co-owner of the Kiss nightclub, is taken into custody by police in Santa Maria, Brazil, on Monday, January 28.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Residents of Santa Maria, Brazil, hold a march on January 28 to honor the victims of the Kiss nightclub fire and demand justice for them.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Residents march along Rio Branco Avenue on January 28, demanding justice for and to honor the Kiss nightclub fire victims.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – A violinist comforts another during the march on January 28.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Demonstrators carry candles through the streets in Santa Maria on January 28.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Soldiers carry the coffin of a victim of the nightclub blaze on January 28.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – A priest celebrates Mass in a public square in the center of Santa Maria on January 28.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Mourners cry at the municipal cemetery on January 28.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – The entrance to the Kiss nightclub is covered in soot on January 28.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Relatives and friends of one of the victims of the Kiss nightclub fire gather during the funeral at Santa Rita Cemetery in Santa Maria on January 28.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Firefighters stand at the burnt-out entrance of the Kiss nightclub on Sunday, January 27, in Santa Maria, Brazil.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Relatives wait to identify victims at the municipal gymnasium in Santa Maria on January 27.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Relatives of victims weep during a funeral in Santa Maria on January 27.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Relatives pray at the wake of a victim on January 27 in Santa Maria.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Relatives of a victim of a fire that broke out at the Kiss nightclub weep during the funeral in Santa Maria, Brazil, on Sunday, January 27.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – A woman weeps on a coffin as relatives of the nightclub fire victims identify bodies.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – People console each other during a collective wake for the victims of the nightclub fire.

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Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – A coffin decorated with a photograph and image of the Virgin Mary is surrounded by mourners.

Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire – Emergency personnel gather outside the burned-out Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil. The nightclub is popular with young people, drawing between 2,000 and 3,000 people a night on the weekends.

"It was a really complicated scene. A lot of smoke, a lot of shoes that was left, cell phones, because everybody tried to get out of there running," he said. "While we were there, we saw the cell phones were ringing. It was parents, friends, trying to know about what was happening and nobody was answering."

A fire swept through the packed, popular nightclub in Santa Maria early Sunday, killing at least 233 people -- enough to fill a large plane -- Brazilian Health Minister Alexandro Padilha told reporters. Of those, 185 have been identified so far.

Many apparentlydied from smoke inhalation. Others were trampled in the rush for the exits, one security guard told Band News.

More than 90 people were hospitalized, Padilha said, including 14 patients with severe burns.

About 2,000 people were inside the club when the fire broke out -- double the maximum capacity of 1,000, said Guido de Melo, a state fire official.

Investigators have received preliminary information that security guards stopped people from exiting the club, he told Globo TV.

"People who were inside the facility informed us ... that security guards blocked the exit to prevent people there from leaving, and that's when the crowd starting panicking, and the tragedy grew worse," he said.

The fire started "from out of nowhere" on a stage at the club and quickly spread to the ceiling, witness Jairo Vieira told Band News.

There was a pyrotechnics show going on inside the club when the fire started. Authorities stopped short of blaming it for the blaze, saying the cause was still under investigation.

The Kiss nightclub is popular with young people in Santa Maria, which is home to a number of universities and colleges, including the Federal University of Santa Maria. At least 80 of those killed Sunday were students at that school, it said.

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The blaze broke out during a weekend when students were celebrating the end of summer. Many universities are set to resume classes on Monday.

Video from the scene showed firefighters shooting streams of water at the club and shirtless men trying to break down a wall with axes.

Smoke billowed outside the front of the building as the stench of fire filled the air, said Max Muller, who was riding by on his motorbike when he saw the blaze.

Muller recorded video of a chaotic scene outside the club, which showed emergency crews tending to victims and dazed clubgoers standing in the street. Bodies lay on the ground beside ambulances.

Friends who were inside the club told him that many struggled to find the exits in the dark. Muller, who was not inside the club Sunday morning but has been there twice before, said there were no exit signs over the doors. It is rare to see such signs in Brazilian clubs.

Valderci Oliveira, a state lawmaker, told Band News that he saw piles of bodies in the club's bathroom when he arrived at the scene hours after the blaze. It looked "like a war zone," he said.

Police told Band News that 90% of the victims were found in that part of the club.

The roof collapsed in several parts of the building, trapping many inside, said Fernandes, the reporter from Band News.

For others, escaping was complicated by the fact that guards initially stopped people from leaving, he said, echoing comments from the state fire official.

"Some guards thought at first that it was a fight, a huge fight that happened inside the club and closed the doors so that the people could not leave without paying their bills from the club," Fernandes said.

The deadly fire is sure to shine a spotlight on safety in Brazil, which is set to host the World Cup next year and the Olympics in 2016.

Many wept as they searched for information outside a local gymnasium where bodies were taken for identification later Sunday. Inside, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff met with family members and friends as they waited on bleachers for word of their loved ones.

Rousseff became teary-eyed as she spoke of the fire to reporters in Chile earlier Sunday. She had been attending a regional summit there, but cut short the trip and returned to Brazil early to deal with the aftermath of the tragedy.

"The Brazilian people are the ones who need me today," she said. "I want to tell the people of Santa Maria in this time of sadness that we are all together."

The fire started around 2 a.m. after the acoustic insulation in the Kiss nightclub caught fire, said Civil Defense Col. Adilomar Silva.

An accordionist who had been performing onstage with a band when the blaze broke out was among the dead, drummer Eliel de Lima told Globo TV.

Police were questioning the club's owner and interviewing witnesses as part of an investigation into what caused the blaze, state-run Agencia Brasil reported.

The club's license had expired in August and had not been renewed, local fire official Moises da Silva Fuchs told Globo TV.

The incident called to mind a 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island where pyrotechnics used by the heavy metal band Great White ignited a blaze that killed 100 people.

Pyrotechnics were also involved in a 2004 nightclub fire in Argentina that killed 194 people and a 2009 explosion at a nightclub in Russia that left more than 100 dead.